Ice bunker



oct. 1, 1935. 5, LUNDVALL 2,015,902

' ICE BUNKER Filed July 5, 1952 2 Sheets-Skieet 1 Patented Oct. 1, l93

UNETED STATES .ICE BUNKER John S. Lundvall, Chicag 0, EL, assignor toEquipment Specialties Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of IllinoisApplication July 5, 1932, Serial No.-620,851

9 Claims.

My invention relates in general to refrigeration and has more especialreference to the refrigeration of vehicles for the transportation ofcargo and particularly to an ice chamber or" bunker for use inrefrigerated cars.

An important object of the invention is to provide an icecontainerformed to present a relatively large area of the ice pack,contained therein, to the air circulating in the refrigerator sys tem inorder to expedite the cooling and render the same more eificient.

Another important object is to form the walls of the ice chamber withchannels to increase the exposure of the ice pack to the air circulatingpast the basket.

Another important object resides in the setting of wall sections of theice bunker inwardly at intervals to create lateral air channels in theice pack.

Another important object resides in forming the lateral channels in theside of the ice basket, which faces and is in communication with therefrigerated compartment.

Still another important object resides in forming the ice bunker orbasket of perforated plates, and further in re-enforcing the perforatedplates in order to render the structure more rigid.

Another important object resides in using perforate plates incombination with Woven screen material in order to produce a rigidbasket having lateral channels at intervals in the walls thereof.

Another important object of the invention resides in the provision of acheap, yetrigid, floor or grate construction for the ice basket.

Another object resides in the provision of a cheap, yet rigid, floorstructure for an icebasket of the class described having walls indentedinwardly at intervals.

Another object resides in theprovision of a floor structure, which maybe assembled at any desired elevation in the ice basket in order todetermine the capacity of the ice basket.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom the following description, which, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment of theinvention.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure l is a substantially vertical section taken substantially alongthe line l--i in Figure 2 through the ice bunker of a refrigerator carem bodying my present invention,

Figures 2 and 3 are, respectively, horizontal and vertical sectionstaken substantially along the lines 22 and 3-3 in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary horizontal section substantially similar toFigure 2 to illustrate a modified floor construction for the ice basket;and 5 Figure 5 is a vertical section taken substantially along the line5--5 in Figure 4.

To illustrate my invention, I have shown on the drawings a refrigeratingsystem embodied in a refrigerator car I I, comprising outer walls l3built upon a frame comprising the studs and an inner sheathing I! inspaced relationship with the outer wall in order to provide a heatinsulating air space [9, which may be and preferably is filled withinsulation. 15

The car also hasa bottom 2! of the usual structure and is provided witha Vertical partition 23 spaced from the end of the car in order todivide the same into an ice compartment 25 and a cold storagecompartment 2'! on opposite sides of the partition. The partition ispreferably erected upon a beam 29 resting upon the bottom 2| andextending across the car in parallel and spaced apart relationship withrespect to the end wall thereof.

On one side of the beam 29, the floor 3| extends horizontally within thecold storage compartment in spaced relationship upon the bottom 21 ofthe car in order to provide an air space therebetween, which may befilled with insulating material if 30 desired.

The cold storage compartment is also provided with a false bottom 35,which rests upon the floor 3!, in order to support the stored goodsabove the floor and provide a space beneath the goods for thecirculation of the refrigerating air. On the opposite side of the beam29, the floor of the re friger-ator is formed to receive the drip fromthe melting ice, which is stored in said compartment. To this end, thebottom of the compartment is provided with a pan 3?, having a drain ofany suitable or preferred construction. The pan is preferably formed ofsheet metal built into the bottom of the compartment and having flangedportions 39 extending upwardly and over the top of the beam 29. Abovethis flanged portion, the beam carries brackets 4i mounted thereon,which, in turn, support vertical uprights 43, extending to the top ofthe-car, the upper ends of the uprights being secured to the horizontalroof trusses 45. The roof trusses 45 also support the car roof 49 andthe ceiling 5| of the storage compartment 27.

The uprights 43 carry the partition 23, which is preferably fastened tothe surface of the upright facing the compartment 21 and the partitionextends from a point spaced above the beam 29 in order to provide anopening 53 through which cool air may emerge from the compartment 25 tothe storage compartment 21 and the partition is also terminated beneaththe car ceiling to provide an air space 55 to permit the relatively warmair from the storage compartment Z'E to enter the upper end of therefrigerator compartment 25, the opening 55 being preferably coveredwith wire netting 51 for a reason and purpose which will hereinafter bemore fully explained.

The roof of the car above the refrigerator compartment 25 is preferablyprovided with openings 59 to facilitate the introduction of ice into thecompartment from outside of the car.

Within the ice compartment 25,1 build an ice basket of novelconstruction and having advantageous characteristics. The basketcomprises a container 55, the walls of which are foraminous and arebuilt onto the walls of the compartment 25 in such a manner that thereare vertically extending air spacesbetween the walls of the compartmentand the walls of the ice bunker.

The walls of the ice bunker may be formed of woven wire to, or any othersuitable foraminous material and are attached in any suitable orconvenient manner as by means of staples 63 to preferably verticallyextending studs 65, which, in turn, are fastened to the inner walls ofthe refrigerator compartment 25 by means of the bolts 61.

' I prefer toform the rear and side walls of th ice bunker of the wiremesh aforesaid as shown in Figures 1, 2,'and 3. Obviously, a perforatedplate structure, similar to that hereafter described for the front ofthe basket, may be used forthe sides and back of the basket, if desired.The front wall of the ice bunker, however, preferably comprises aplurality of perforated sheet metal members including substantially wideplates 69, having lateral flanges II, of substantially the same depth asthe widthof the uprights as, and substantially narrow members 13 of U-shaped, cross-sectional configuration. The members i9 and T3 arearranged .alternatelyto form the front wall of the ice basket, and themembers l3provide substantial ducts or recesses 15 extending verticallyin the forward portion 'of the ice pack to provide an increasedcirculation of --air past theiceipack inthebasket and to substantiallyincrease the area of the ice pack which is exposed to the circulatingair. Theuprights 43,.which support the partition 23, are spaced properly.so that the contiguous edges of the plates $9 and '53 may be boltedeach to an up- L right 53 to secure the parts in place.

The upper ends of the channel members 13 are provided with an inclinedtop H, which is preferably perforate and is provided simply to preventice, introduced through the opening 59, from falling downinto thechannels or ducts i5. It will be noted that the plates 69 define, withthe partition 23,.a relatively wide air space (9 of shallow depth, whichcommunicates at its lower end with the opening 53 and at its upper endwiththe opening 55, while the members 13 define the. relatively narrowair channels or ducts -15 of greater depth, which communicate theirlower ends with the opening 53 and at their upper ends with the opening55 at the top of the partition.

It will be apparent that warm air entering the opening55maytraveldownwardly throu h the channels 19 across the front of theice pack, or down through the channels 75 substantially within the icepack, since the upper portions of the members 13 are perforate as wellas the upper portions of the members 69. entering the channel, maycirculate over the upper portions of the ice pack and down through thespaces provided between the sides of the ice basket and the walls of therefrigerator compartment 25 and thence out under the ice basket and outthrough the opening 53. The air, in traveling these courses, is, ofcourse, cooled by contact with the ice pack in the ice basket.

It will be noted that the channel members 13 form buttresses in thewalls of the ice container and thus add materially to the strength andrigidity of the structure.

In order to support the ice pack in the basket,

a floor or bottom SI is provided. This floor is mounted on angle irons83, which are bolt-ed to the uprights 43 at the front of the ice basketand to the-studs 65 at the sides and back of v the basket at the properelevation to support the bottom 8! within the confines of the side Wallsof the ice basket. It will be obvious that any desired ice capacity maybe provided by simply altering the elevation of the bottom.

The bottom preferably comprises a plurality of perforated plates 85 and81. In the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3, the plates gare of two sizes. One size 85 has a length equal to the width of thebasket between the back wall and the plates 69, and a width equal to thedistance between the side wall and the side of the channel F3, or thedistance between the fac-; ing sides of adjacent channel members 13,while the other size of plate 81 has a length equal to the distancebetween the innermost portion of the members 13 and the back wall of theice bunker. The plates 85 also are. preferably formed with spaced apartlongitudinal beads 89 in order to improve their strength and preventbuckling when loaded with a heavy ice pack and the plates are alsoprovided with flanges 9| along their edges to permit the same to befastened together and to the members 13 as by means of the bolts 93. Theplates 85 and 81 also may be fastened as by the bolts 95 to thesupporting angle irons 83.

It will be seen that the structure illustrated lS relatively simple andinexpensive to erect, will be adequately sturdy to support ice packs ofconsiderable size and weight, will permit of maximum exposure of the icepack to the circulating air and provide an ice basket without partitionsso that a workman may pass from one part of the basket to another whencleaning the same.

In Figures 4 and 5, I have illustrated a basket in which the plates 69and members 13 are formed of woven wire netting and wherein a modifiedfloor structure is utilized. It is possible, of course, to use the floorstructure shown in Figures 4 and 5 in place of the floor structureillustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3, and vice versa.

In building the front wall structure shown in Figures 4 and 5, theuprights G3, which, in

the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3,

1 comprise channel members, are replaced by preferably wooden studs 91similar to the studs 65, heretofore described, since it is easier tofastenv wire netting on a wooden stud, the same being accomplished bynailing or bolting a washer to the stud with the wire netting held byand between the stud andthewasher.

The wire netting 99, forming the front wall75,

Some of the air, 5

front and back of the basket.

of the ice bunker in Figures 4 and 5, is cut away at intervals toprovide for the U-shaped member I13, which corresponds to the U-shapedmember 13 of the embodiment shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3. Obviously aperforated sheet metal member may be used in the embodiment shown inFigures 4 and 5 in place of the mesh member illustrated, if desire Themembers I13 comprise'stfips of woven wire fabric having their oppositeside edges held by and between adjacent studs 91, the bodies of thestrips extend inwardly of the studs through the openings in the frontwall 99 of the ice basket to form the air duct I15 within the ice pack.The central portions of the members I13 are held in place by beingguided around angle irons IBI, which are supported at their lower endsfrom the floor of the ice compartment by being secured to members aremounted on the beam I 29, the upper ends of the angle irons IOI beingsecured in any convenient manner and preferably by bending themoutwardly and securing them to the upper ends of the studs to which theopposed ends of the members I13 are secured. This construction providesa sloping top similar to the top 11 of the structure shown in Figure 3.

The floor structure shown in Figures 4 and 5 of the'drawings comprises acomposite built-up portion I85 and an intermediate portion I81, theportion I85 comprising a plurality of members I05 comprising channelmembers having flat intermediate portions and depending lateral flangesI01, the members I05 are wider at their ends than at their mid-portionsso that when a number of the members are assembled in adjacentrelationship, as shown in Figure 4, there will be an elongated openingbetween adjacent pieces. A number of elements may be adjacently arrangedand secured together as by means of the connecting rod I99 passingthrough perforations formed in alignment in depending flanges atopposite ends of the members. In this way,

the composite floor member I85 may be built up to a size sufiicient tofit between the front and back walls of the ice basket and between theside walls of the basket and the members I13, or between adjacentmembers I13 between the The floor elements I85 are supported in positionby being mounted on a bridge member I I I comprising an angle ironhaving legs, one of which rests on the beam I29 and is bolted to a stud91, while the other leg rests on a support H3 carried on the floor ofthe ice compartment at the rear thereof. Intermediate the legs, thebridge has a horizontal portion, which receives the ends of the membersI05, which form. the floor section.

An additional floor section I81, preferably comprising a perforatedplate, similar to the plate 81 illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3,extends adjacent the fioor sections in order to fill the portion betweenthe inner end of the channel I85 and the rear wall. 7

It is thought that the invention and numerous of its attendantadvantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it isobvious that numerous changes may be made in the form,

construction, and arrangement of the several parts'without departingfrom the spirit or scope of my invention or sacrificing any ofitsattendant advantages, the forms herein described being'preferredembodiments for the purpose of illustrating my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I I03, which, in turn,

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:

1. In a refrigerator having an ice compartment and a storage compartmentseparated by a partition having openings through which air may 5circulate between the compartments, the combination of an ice basket insaid ice compartment comprising a container having air pervious wallsoffset, at intervals, from the general con- .tour of the cage, toprovide channels in the basket wall facing the partition, said basketbeing formed with hooded means communicating with the openings and withthe channels to promote the circulation of air in said channels.

2. An ice basket for the ice bunker of a refrigerator car, said basketcomprising a container having an open top adapted to extend under theice loading hatch of the refrigerator car and air pervious walls offsetat intervals from the general contour of the cage to provide verticallyextending lateral channels, and guard means at the upper end of thechannels to prevent ice dropped through the hatch from falling into thechannels.

3. An ice basket comprising a container having air pervious walls ofmaterial strong enough to sustain an ice pack in the basket, said wallsbeing formed at intervals with vertical flues extending into the icepack and opening laterally of the basket whereby to increase theeffective area of the ice pack exposed to air circulating exteriorly ofthe ice basket and inwardly facirng chute means at the upper end of saidflues for deflecting falling ice into the basket and to prevent it fromfalling into the flues. V

4. In a refrigerator having an ice compartment through which air maycirculate, the combination of an ice basket in said ice compartmentcomprising air pervious walls, one, at least, of which is formed atintervals with inwardly extending portions, forming buttresses forstrengthening the structure and providing vertically extending flues toincrease the area of exposure of the ice pack contained within thebasket, and a floor for said basket comprising a plurality of platesformed with elongated upwardly arched flutes or beads, means tointer-connect the plates together and to mount them in the basket in adesired spaced relationship with respect to the floor of the icecompartment to determine the maximum load capacity of the ice cage.

5. In a refrigerator having an ice compartment through which air maycirculate, the combination of an ice basket in said compartmentcomprising side walls of air pervious material strong enough to supportan ice pack in the compartment, a floor for said basket comprising aplurality of plates having marginal flanges, means to interconnect theflanges of adjacent plates to form a unit'floor of size and shape to fitthe basket and means to mount the floor at a desired elevation withrespect to the walls of the basket whereby to determine the capacity ofthe basket.

6. In a refrigerator having an ice compartment through which air maycirculate, the combination of an ice basket in said compartmentcomprising side walls of air pervious material strong enough to supportan ice pack .in the compartment, a floor for said basket comprising aplurality of plates of rectangular shape and having upstanding marginalflanges whereby a plurality of plates may be interconnected to form afloor of a desired size and shape to fit the basket, certain of saidplates having upwardly arched flutes and having perforations topermit-water, from the melting ice ;-pack, to drain OIL-and means tosupport the floor within the'walls of the basket.

7. In a structure of the class described, an ice bunker comprising meansforming sidewalls havingindented portions at spaced. intervals, and afloor comprising a main section extending opposite theiunindentedportions of-the wall, and adjacent sections extending opposite theindented portions, said main and adjacent sections beingsupported at apredetermined height within the walls to-determine the capacityof theice bunker.

8 In a structure of the class described, an ice bunker comprising abasket having foraminous walls; bays formed at intervals in saidwalls toor beads formedtherein-to strengthen the plates provide verticallyextending;- lateral air channels through vthe icepackin thebunker and afloor having a peripheral configuration conforming with the bayed wallsof the-basket in order to provide a support. for the ice pack within thebasket between thebays Without extending into the bays and obstructingthey air channels.

9. An ice basket for the bunker of a refrigerator car, said basketcomprising a container having an open-top adapted to. extend under theiceloading hatch of the refrigerator car and having air pervious walls,means forming lateral verticallyv extending channels at said walls, andguard means at the upper ends of the channels to deflect ice into thecontainer andprevent it from entering the channels.

J OI-I'N; S. LUNDVALL.

